Apollo Hospitals will invest about Rs 1200 crore in advanced precision oncology care, according to its Executive Vice Chairperson, Preetha Reddy.

Speaking to newspersons after formally announcing the launch of a new vertical, Apollo Cancer Institute, by amalgamating the existing nine institutes across the country, she said out of the proposed investment Rs 650 crore will be spent on state of the art proton therapy treatment facilities to be installed in the Apollo Cancer Institute in Chennai.

``The equipment alone will cost approximately Rs 400 crore. The remaining investment will be used to upgrade existing oncology treatment infrastructure,’’ she said. The required funds are likely to be mobilised by a combination of debt and equity.

The proton therapy, to be available for the patients by 2018, will be first of its kind in the the country. The cost of a single treatment could be around Rs 20 lakh, Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Group said.

``It is estimated that over million deaths occur due to cancer in India every year and this rate is sky-rocketing. Cancer care has moved into an era of personalised medicine. The precision oncology at Apollo Cancer Institutes delivers this personalised care,’’ Reddy added.

With the launch of the new vertical, Apollo’s cancer management infrastructure has been converted into an independent functional entity. It’s cancer institutes in Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bilaspur, Bengaluru and Madurai are part of the this initiative. Plans are afoot to launch cancer institutes in Mumbai besides some other cities including Visakhapatnam.

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